Slipper



April 22, 1958 I s o I 2,831,272

SLIPPER Filed March 27, 1957 7 E 5 41 mmvromz 25 ATTORNEY United States Patent SLIPPER Jules Sloat, Bronx, N. Y. Application March 27, 1957, Serial No. 648,910 3 Claims. (Cl. 368.5)

This invention relates to footwear. More particularly the invention relates to footwear having means for supporting the arch of a wearers foot and developing ventilation during the process of walking.

It is an object of this invention to provide novel footwear.

It is another object to provide novel footwear capable of being worn alone.

It is another object to provide novel footwear adapted for being worn within a shoe.

It is a further object to provide footwear which beautifies the feet and also presents soiling of said feet.

It is yet another object to provide footwear which supports the foot arch and massages the arch muscles during the process of walking.

It is still another object to provide footwear with a sling adapted to support the foot arch, said sling having apertures therein for ventilating the arch.

These and other objectives and purposes of this inventive footwear will become apparent upon reading the following descriptive disclosure of several illustrations of this invention shown in the accompanying drawing in which;

Fig. 1 is a side elevation view of one form of the invention showing the foot in phantom outline,

Fig. 2 is a section view taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the shoe of Fig. 1,

Fig. 4 is a front view of a modified shoe showing the foot toes in outline and showing the manner of securing the front of the shoe between the toes,

Fig. 5 is a view of another modification showing a closed toe front broken away in part to show the location of ventilation apertures,

Fig. 6 is a bottom view of part of the modification of Fig. 5 showing the manner of securing the closed toe front to the sole piece,

Fig. 7 is a bottom view of the sole of the modification of Fig. 1 showing a single large suction cup secured to the ball of the sole and adapted to secure the footwear to a conventional shoe inside surface and Fig. 8 is a bottom view of the sole of Fig. 5 showing a plurality of small suction cups secured to the sole piece in lieu of the single large suction cup of Fig. 7.

The footwear of this invention may be worn inside a shoe, in which case the footwear is made of thin strong flexible plastic and preferably is provided with one or more suction cups. However, the footwear may be worn alone as a conventional shoe or beach shoe in which case the shoe elements may be made of longlasting leather, fabric or plastic.

The area surface elements of this invention are preferably made of resilient flexible plastic sheets for example from polyethylene, polyvinyl acetate, suitable cellophane, etc. or from flexible leather, etc.

Preferably the upper shoe structure 10 is made from a single sheet of flexible plastic suitably cut. This cut plas- 2,831,272 Patented Apr. 22, 1958 tic piece is then secured to a sole piece 11 by adhesive, thermo-fusion and other conventional securing means.

The sole 11 may be made of plastic, leather, etc. and may be fiat or suitably curved for foot wearing comfort.

As shown in Fig. 3, the shoe upper structure is preferably an integral element having an inside wall 12 adjacent the foot instep, rear or heel wall 13 having a curved top notch 14 and a bottom notch 15, and an outer wall 16.

The inside wall 12 is provided with a suitable sloping edge 17 and the outside wall 14 is also provided with a suitable sloping edge 18. Slopes 17 and 18 are 'cut so as to beautify the appearance of the foot while functioning to protect the foot from dirt as when worn by women in conventional streetwear slippers.

Notch 14 is cut to provide comfort during walking while notch provides comfort for the heel as well as providing a means of ventilation and securing the heel of a foot to the footwear.

The front of the footwear is provided with a bridge strap 19 bridging the edge 17 of the instep wall 12 to the front of the sole piece 11. As shown in Fig. 1, the wearers toes are inserted beneath the strap 19 thereby providing a means for securing the front of the shoe to the front of the foot.

A feature of this invention lies in the provision of an arch support sling 20. The sling 20 is preferably integral with instep wall 12 being preferably cut from wall 12 by a pair of divergent upwardly and outwardly disposed cut edges 21. Preferably the edges 21 are provided with a terminal convergent upwardly and inwardly disposed cuts forming edges 22, thereby providing the sling with a suitable non-tearing conjecture to the wall 12.

The sling 20 is preferably provided with a plurality of apertures 23 thereby producing a breathing or bellows action by the sling with each step to cool and ventilate the instep of the foot. The sling is preferably and in effect a tapered bridge the sides 24 of which converge. In short, the sling 20 is a truncated cone, the base of which is integral with the instep wall 12.

As shown in Fig. 2, the bottom edges of the upper shoe element 11 are turned around the sole 11 to form a ledge 25 which ledge 25 is secured to the bottom surface of the sole as by adhesive, fusion or other conventional means. The tip of the sling 20 is also turned underneath the sole 11 to form a ledge 26 which is secured by means of adhesive or other conventional means to the bottom surface of the sole piece 11.

As shown in Figs. 5 and 6 the footwear may be provided with a closed toe element 27 adapted to encase the toe of a wearers foot. The toe element 27 protects the toes from soiling and functions to hold the front of the footwear to the wearers foot. Where the footwear of this invention is worn with open toed shoes, the modification having an encased toe 27 is preferred.

The plastic used in making the footwear may be transparent, opaque or translucent and may be colored with various colors and even provided with decorative means such as synthetic jewels, etc., thereby giving the feet of a wearer of said footwear an attractive and slenderizing appearance.

Preferably the bottom of the encased toe 27 is provided with vent holes 28.

Where the footwear is worn by females within conven tional outdoor slippers, the bottom surfaces of the soles 11 are preferably provided with a single large conventional suction cup 29 or a plurality of small conventional suction cups 30 on the ball of the sole 11. The suction cups prevent sliding movement of the footwear 10 in a conventional shoe due to the vacuum seizure of the shoe by the suction cup or cups.

'5 Of course, where the fo'otwear is suitably constructed and to be worn alone, the use of suction cups 29 or 30 is dispensed with and the walking is done on sole 11 or upon an outer sole (not shown) secured thereto as by adhesive, stitches, etc.

The footwear may be provided with a toe bridge piece 31 in lieuof the strap 19 to secure the front end of the footwear 10 to the foot. Other conventional front end means of securing the footwear 10 to the foot are possible.

The footwear of this invention in as much as it embraces a rear wall 13', it protects the back of the stocking and feet of the wearer.

This invention is of broad scope so it is not to be limited to the illustrative embodiments shown and described since conventional male and female shoes may be modified to embrace the sling element of this invention. Also the sling 20 is disposed in spaced relationship above the upper surface of the sole piece 11-. This space relationship is variable according to the wearers comfort and other factors.

Furthermore, where'the footwear is worn inside a shoe, the footwear being plastic is easily inserted into the shoe and is easily cleaned as after being worn on a rainy day, keeping the feet clean from dirt and in the case of rain from mud spots.

The heel notch, permits securing the wearers heel into the footwear. Moreover, the sole piece 11 may be modified selectively as to its contour but it preferably does not extend under the toes. Clearly this invention may be varied to a great degree as to minor details.

I claim:

1. A slipper comprising a unitary top element having an integral vertical wall heel embracing portion, an integral toe embracing portion and an integral arch supporting sling portion intermediate :said heel portion and said toe portion and an integral horizontal sole element secured to each of said heel portion, toe portion and sling portion.

2. The slipper of claim 1 wherein the heel portion is provided with a cut-out section adapted to-e'ngage a foot heel and wherein said sling portion is provided with a plurality of apertures.

3. The slipper of claim 2 wherein the sling portion is a truncated triangular element secured to the bottom wall of said sole element, said heel portion and said toe portion being also secured to the bottom wall of said sole element.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,179,124 Jesnig Nov. 7, 1939 2,188,182 Gould Jan. 23,1940 2,332,252 Payne Oct. 19, 1943 

